The Kabul Tribune (KT) — UNESCO is calling for the immediate and unconditional restoration of Afghan girls’ and women’s right to education, five years after the Taliban returned to power and imposed sweeping restrictions on their access to schools and universities.
Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where
girls and women are formally barred from education beyond the primary level,
UNESCO said in a statement. An estimated 2.4 million girls are currently
excluded from secondary education.
The restrictions have reversed years of progress in
expanding access to education. While opportunities for girls were severely
limited in 2001, nearly 1 million girls were enrolled in secondary schools by
2021, according to UNESCO.
The U.N. cultural agency said the continued exclusion of
girls and women from education is a serious violation of their fundamental
human rights and could leave Afghanistan facing decades of lost opportunities,
deeper poverty and lasting social and economic damage.
Nearly half of Afghanistan’s population lives below the
poverty line, UNESCO said, warning that restrictions on education and
employment further limit women’s ability to support their families and
contribute to the country’s economy.
The restrictions also have consequences for women’s and
girls’ mental and physical health and increase the risk of early marriage,
UNESCO said. A Taliban decision barring female teachers from teaching boys has
also contributed to teacher shortages and could undermine the quality of
education for students across the country.
UNESCO said it is continuing to support Afghan girls and
women through alternative education programs, including community-based
learning, literacy and skills training, as well as psychosocial support.
While those programs cannot replace formal schooling, they
provide opportunities for education to continue while the restrictions remain
in place, the agency said.
Nearly 70,000 learners have benefited from UNESCO-supported
programs so far, with women accounting for about 73% of participants, according
to the organization.
UNESCO said recent research indicates that literacy and
skills-development programs can help increase household income and improve
livelihoods. Beyond economic benefits, education also provides women and their
families with greater resilience and a sense of dignity, the agency said.
UNESCO called on the Taliban authorities to restore girls’
and women’s rights to education without conditions.
“Afghanistan’s girls and women have the right to learn, to
work, to move freely, and to shape their own futures,” UNESCO said, urging the
international community to continue pressing for the restoration of those rights.
The agency said it would continue working with Afghan
communities and international partners to maintain opportunities for education,
skills development and other forms of support for women and girls.
